Oil pipeline requests pour in to PUC

More than 100 want to intervene in permits for TransCanada

More than 100 want to intervene in permits for TransCanada

September 14, 2007|By Bob Mercer, American News Correspondent

PIERRE - The state Public Utilities Commission granted party status Wednesday to more than 100 additional individuals and other applicants who want to intervene in the commission's consideration of a construction permit for TransCanada's proposed crude-oil pipeline through South Dakota. The commissioners haven't rejected any of the roughly 180 applications for party status received through the July 10 deadline, although some appeared to be duplicates or multiple applications from the same person as an individual as well as business owner or organization representative. Party status means they can present witnesses, introduce evidence, make objections, cross-examine others' witnesses and participate in other ways throughout the PUC's hearing process. “We have no objections to any of the interventions that have been filed,” Brett Koenecke, a Pierre attorney representing TransCanada, said. PUC staff said they can't recall handling so many interventions in any previous case. Most of the applications came from individuals and businesses, along with a handful from municipal and county governments and from Hutterite colonies and church organizations. “It looks like there are three people who did not intervene at this point,” commissioner Gary Hanson of Sioux Falls remarked. Legal counsel John Smith said typical processes used in past hearings, such as reaching consensus among the sides on scheduling, “won't work very well” with the large number of parties seeking to participate in the TransCanada hearing. Smith said he plans to send a letter to each trying to determine the level of involvement sought by each party. Smith surmised that the large number of intervenors is a reflection of organized opposition seeking to sway the commission's judgment. Smith said the commission's role in deciding whether to grant the permit is essentially judicial rather than political. “It's based on facts, it's not based on popularity,” he said. He added that his suspicion is that “an awfully lot of people” want to be included on an information level and want to be on record as interested parties rather than seeking to take part in every step of the proceedings over the coming months. PUC chairman Dusty Johnson of Mitchell predicted that “dozens upon dozens” of people who have sought to intervene probably won't actually present evidence or participate in cross-examination. Smith said another issue facing the commission and staff is how to handle correspondence with so many parties. He noted that the official record from the Big Stone power plant permit was more than 10,000 pages long. He surmised most people don't want to receive that much paper. Koenecke told the commission that TransCanada is willing to be patient, but he asked the commission to have a schedule ready by the PUC's next meeting Aug. 7. “I do want to stress my client is interested in teeing this up and moving forward,” Koenecke said. Smith said his intention is that the hearing schedule will be proposed at that meeting.